ChrisMorgan

St louis Mo area, we used to be a major international hub and when american bought out TWA they said it would always be that way. Then a few years later it all changed they layed off tons of people and moved the main hub. now just about any flight goin out of st louis goes to another stop before you can get to where your going unless your willing to pay an extreme price! Our main airline now is southwest, they have good prices to close places like chicago or kansas city under 300 each person but shoot you can drive to either in under 5 hours.

just booked a last minute cruise on the carnival freedom leaving this sunday woohoo. I'm so ready to get away!!!

thanks for the advice yup I always check southwest. they were 1400 for the 2 of us. the other flights werent even worth mentioning. most other flights are worse than southwest requiring some over night layovers because we are no longer a main hub so they route you thru chicago, texas, south carolina or some other out of the way place on your way to florida. to be honest Im a little bit of a larger guest so southwest tends to scare me the way they sometimes charge double seats for larger guest as you are preparing to board the plane and left with no option but to pay double. This happened to a friend of mine on his way back from las vegas. had no issues on his way there just on the way back... So im a little nervous to fly southwest always wondering if they are gonna come grab me and tell me im to big!!! I can put both arms rest down with no issue, but thats always in the back of your mind until the planes starts to pull off... thanks again for the help!!!

For us it's usually long term plan with last minute booking, but for the most part we go in October every year or the first week of November. My vacations have to be put in by March every year. So planning for the cruise ahead of time but waiting to book till August or September. We like to play the waiting game watching the price drop before we book. We have also taken some really last minute cruises like the one we are going on in less than a week, we just booked it Feb. 27th and its leaving on March 9th.

CarnivalFreedom

Click here to view the cruise

Thanks so much yes that is helpful. We have only flew in and out of Ft Lauderdale but because the prices of flights and not many direct flights anymore from our home city. It has become more economical to drive even though it will take alot longer... like instead of a 2 hour flight it will take 18 hour drive time not including stops! But price wise around 600 round trip including hotels and gas, lowest flight I could find was almost 1400$ and that was with multiple planes and long layovers... Shoot just a few years ago I could fly for under 400$ for both of us. Thanks again!

Anyone have any idea?

Hey! I'm leaving on the Carnival Freedom in a couple weeks does anyone know if any Ft. Lauderdale hotels offer port parking discounts?

In Oct we stayed at the best western hotel near port Caneveral and the hotel offered us a voucher for cheaper parking at the port instead of 15 it was 8 dollars a day.

http://www.bestwesterncocoabeach.com/embed/bw2.html

Thanks!

we were out there! we were near keywest we eneded up getting an extra day of cruise out of it on the carnival exctasy! wow what a trip

BTW great program

I am not real familiar with hotels and the park and cruise packages they offer. The $15 rate at the port is about right. In New Orleans it is $16 per day.

my understanding its 90$ for a 5 day seems a bit steep!

We've stayed at this one 3 times. They offer free cruise parking and shuttle service, howver the hotel is not on the beach.

Radisson Cape Canaveral

This looks like a nice place thanks for the offering!

well found a couple hotels one I really liked so far offer 40% port parking and is beach front.

any other thoughts?

Hey I'm headed to port caneveral for a cruise in october. It looks like the port parking is pretty high, ours would be 90 dollars for a 5 day! Ive been looking around at some pay and park places a bit on the web but havent found anything I like yet. We our going to go to the Cape area a day before our cruise leaves and stay in a hotel. So my questions are:

1. Does anyone know of some good hotel choices close to the port and the beach or on the beach? (we are driving in a day early and hope to get a bit of beach time and watch the cruise ships debark the day before we do)

2. Parking, any ideas on parking? My biggest concern is our car, I have a car that is modified and take to alot of carshows. We usually take this car on our trips because its the most comfortable and enjoyable to drive. Unfortuntely I'm pretty picky about where it can be parked. The lot at the port is garaged so I know it would be out of the elements, but the price seems high to me. The park and pay lots are cheaper but most of them I have seen are rock and have no protection from the elements. So I'm not sure which way to go? Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks

We used VTG several times because of a family member. They told us of there great treatment and they always got something special from their booking like flowers, chocolates, upgrades or some special gift from VTG. We on the other hand booked thru them at least 7 times and recieved nothing. We were very disgusted contacted them about it. They offered us a small discount if we would book thru them again... it was our last booking. We also like to book within the last 90 days and to get the lowest price you have to get a guaranteed room instead of your choice. This last booking we booked direct thru Carnival good prices for past guest rates!!!

mine is on my signature below

We prefer early dining and usually as large a table as we can get so we can meet people. We enjoy learning about our table mates and alot of times, we spend time with them outside the dining room go to the show together, meet for lunch hangout in the casino. We did a small table one time it was very uncomfortable we spent alot of effort trying to create conversations, the more people at the table the more likely we will find some compatible people.

Love balcony but as long as I'm on the ship I'm happy!!!

I think Carnival has a great program. It just takes along time to get the good tier! Maybe if they had some small incentives to add in thru the years to get to the platinum level would be nice 25-75 is a big jump! The platinum level has many great perks but it would take an average person many years to get there. I'm at 29 with Carnival. If we averaged a 5 day cruise a year it would take 9 years. I might have to step it up a bit!!!

To me the line isnt as important as doing another long cruise maybe next long one more than 10 days!

I love collecting the small cruise ships, I'm only currently missing 2. 1. the monarch of the seas from my first cruise and 2. carribean princess, which they said they didnt have any available for sale at the time of my cruise.I really enjoy the small model cruise ships.They are a great reminder and I enjoy looking at them and remembering being aboard along with looking at the many photos. Good memories!!!

On the 10 cruises we have been on I have always heard stories from people about these huge upgrades and free stuff and all these perks. But have never actually seen any on our end. Only 1 time did the place we book thru, send us a bottle of wine that was in our room when we got there.

Routes usually take 2nd to price to us. We are also not a fan of the "superships" We also always look at flights to see if we could get "lucky" but I agree most of the time the flights are just as expensive as the whole cruise. Now since St louis isnt a huge hub anymore most airlines dont even offer us direct flights. We typically drive, it takes an average of 12 to 15 hours but our price is lower than the flights when we do the math. As of now I dont think we have even considered one of the large classes of ships.

Congrats, Miami airport is a bear! Try to learn the words to the song " I would walk 500 miles" by the Proclaimers. Hopefully it will keep you laughing while walking for days inside that airport.

First Cruise we went on we brought 5 big bags! Second cruise 3 bags 1 large and 2 small and pretty much all after that have been a 3 bagger. 2 for cloths and 1 for shoes and an electric fan. We try to keep a small bag with our swimsuits and 1 change of clothing in one small bag that we carry on the ship ourselves in case of the occasional loss of baggage. I would like to eventually go to 2 medium bags so we could just carry them on ourselves but 10 cruises later we still follow the same model...

I have to say I always wondered if this would eventually happen with the way you can book "guaranteed cabins". We typically book "last minute" within 3 months of sailing, and by doing so we have kept our cost down by watching until our flights come to a price we want. Then we book hotels, cruise, and airfare all at the same time. I believe from now on I will have to be a bit more careful about booking a cruise without a real room assignment...

If you want to dress formal, go crazy. The me and wife always love to get all dressed up in our best. She has a formal dress and I have a tux. We always get our pictures taken from the staff photos, makes for some great memories. But on the other hand if you hate dressing up or a suit and tie is everyday wear for you, skip the formal just bring your swim gear or casual cloths and have a great time. Really a cruise is about being flexible. You and you husband celebrate it with what makes you excited and happy. No matter is its in your swim gear or tuxedo and formal dress!